The City Bus Tour

Previous page - Nevsky Prospekt

 

Tired travellers

A ride on the hop-on hop-off City bus Tour appealed to us weary travellers. We were ushered onto the bus as if there was some great hurry. We were told the bus would be leaving in five minutes. It didn't actually leave for 30 minutes! No sooner did the bus move off than we were in a traffic jam and that lasted 20 minutes. We weren't ruffled at all really because we were so tired and we were quite happy to sit down and just gaze at our surroundings. It turns out the reason for the traffic jam was several cars were being towed away further down the street and the street was totally blocked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only place we wanted to hop off the bus was at the Peter and Paul fortress. Otherwise we were quite happy to just rest our legs as long as possible. The rain was gone for a while which suited us just fine. We placed our ear pieces in our ears so we could hear the commentary as we travelled around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter and Paul Fortress

The Peter and Paul Fortress was founded by Peter the Great on an island in the Neva River and dates back to the early 1700's.

Inside the fortress is the Peter and Paul Church which is the second highest building in the city at 122.5 metres (404 feet).

It is home to almost all the rulers of Russia since Peter the Great.

 

 

Also in the fortress are the Mint which is still in use, a museum and a couple of other buildings.

The weather started to turn a bit warmer and the rain seemed to be gone. We had a mooch around and started to feel hungry so we sat down at a little food kiosk and had a hamburger (yes, another hamburger!) which was about the only thing on the menu that was vaguely appealing. As usual, it was the poor quality we have come to expect at food kiosks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spotted the toilet buses that we have seen photographs of before so we had to try them out. I can't comment on the men's toilets but the ladies toilets seemed to be at a strange angle within the cubicle. They were very tiny toilets and if you sat on the seat your knees were facing (and touching) the wall at an angle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We leave the Peter and Paul Fortress

Having finished looking at the fortress we climbed back aboard the very next City Tour bus and we then saw a few more kilometres of St Petersburg.

The weather was feeling much warmer and the rain was gone.

We thought the city bus was good value for money. It cost us 400 roubles each which included a discount received by us having been on the river boat tour the day before.

From the bus stop we slowly wound our way, by foot, back to the Hostel. There is no energy left in either of us any more. We really believe we have tried to do too much on this holiday. We have worn ourselves ragged.

Last few hours in St Petersburg

We did the usual emailing to the kids and other family members and then headed back to the same crepe cafe we went to last night. I think it is called Chaynay Loshka. The meal didn't seem such great value the second time around. We walked back to the hostel via all the Sovietskaya Streets. The air was getting quite smoky. We wonder what is on fire.

We pack our gear up. We are right at the end of our Russian holiday.

 

Next page - Leaving Russia

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